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Corporate Profile

Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars. It’s headquartered in Gaydon, Warwickshire and also has operations in the Middle East, North Africa and India. The company’s Chief Executive Officer is Ulrich Bez. Its worldwide revenues totaled approximately US$925 million in 2007.

Aston Martin from 1994 to 2007 was a part of the Ford Motor Company and on March 12, 2007 was purchased by a joint venture, headed by David Richards and co-owned by Investment Dar and businessman John Sinders. Ford retained 12.1% stake in the company.

Ashton Martin has 134 dealers spread over forty-two countries and the company sold 22,000 cars in 2011. Aston Martin also participates in car auctions and participated in the Annual Bonhams Auction in 2011.

The company which produces only sports cars, in 2010 added the elegant four-door sports car called the Rapide and the stunning One-77 supercar to its fleet of cars which comprises of DBS, DB9 and Vantage. The current range of award-winning sports and performance GT cars gives Aston Martin the strongest line up in its history.

As per the company’s expansion plans, Aston Martin recently entered the markets in Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Taiwan and Turkey. The company is working towards making is presence felt in new markets as well as emerging markets such as China and the Middle East.

Aston Martin launched operations in India when it opened its first dealership in Mumbai on 15 April, 2011 in partnership with Performance Cars (a division of Infinity Cars Pvt Ltd.). Infinity Cars is an Indian company that has been dealing with Indian luxury cars and yachts for many years and is headed by Abhimanyu Singh, General Manager of Infinity Cars Pvt. Ltd.

The Mumbai dealership sells and gives customers the opportunity to test drive the V8 Vantage Coupe and Roadster, V12 Vantage, DB9 Coupe and Volante, DBS Coupe, and Volante, the four-door sports car, Rapide; the recently launched V8 Vantage S and the new Virage. Aston Martin India plans to introduce its second dealership in New Delhi soon.

Company History

British sports-car company, Aston Martin, was founded by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin in the year 1914, in Warwickshire. Initially known as ‘Bamford and Martin Limited’, the company was renamed ‘Aston Martin’ in 1915, to commemorate Lionel Martin’s Hill Climb races at Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire.

Initial Successes

The two founders joined hands to produce luxury sports cars that would combine superior performance and elegance. In 1923, two Aston Martin cars entered the racing circuit in Europe at the French Grand Prix. In the same year, the team broke ten world records at the Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit, firmly establishing the company as a formidable sports-car maker.

Aston Martin Atom

One of the most distinctive car models developed by the company in its pre-1947 years was the ‘Atom’, built using a space frame chassis and independent suspension, in 1939. Designed by Claude Hill for Aston Martin, the car came with an aluminum body over a tubular steel frame, and was considerably different from the company’s other cars.

The David Brown Series

In 1947, industrialist David Brown bought Aston Martin Limited after driving the Atom (or so the story goes). Following the acquisition, Aston Martin cars were named after the new owner, as the DB-series cars. Over the next few decades, several DB-series cars were produced, many of which went on to become the most successful racing-cars of the time – most notably winning the 1953 and the 1959 Le Mans 24 hours. The team’s most well-known sports-car driver was Stirling Moss, who raced a DBR1 at Le Mans 1959.

Aston Martin in James Bond Movies

Aston Martin cars have been immortalized in several James Bond movies, the most well-known being the DB5 in “Goldfinger”. Other James Bond movies featuring DB-series cars include “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, “Golden Eye”, “Tomorrow Never Dies”, “Casino Royale”, and “Quantum of Solace”. The V8 Vantage Volante and the V12 Vanquish appeared in “The Living Daylights” and “Die Another Day”, respectively.

Ownership Changes

Aston Martin has gone through a number of ownership changes in its lifetime. In 1972, it was sold to Company Developments Ltd, backed by a Birmingham-based consortium. Again, in 1975, it was taken over by businessmen Peter Sprague (from USA) and George Minden (from Canada).

In 1980, at a time when the company was close to bankruptcy, with its owners considering closing down the production unit, it was acquired by Victor Gauntlett and Pace Petroleum, who revived its sagging fortunes. Then, in 1987, the Britain-based company had a new owner yet again – this time the American auto giant, Ford Motor, which acquired a 75 percent stake in it (by 1994, Ford had taken over 100 percent of the company).

In March 2007, the company was back in British hands, when Ford sold it to a consortium led by David Richards, for 479 million pounds. Richards continues to be the company’s Chairman.

Company Founder(s)

Britain-based sports car company, Aston Martin, was founded by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin in Henniker Place, Kensington, in the year 1914. Prior to starting the company, the two founders had teamed up to sell racing cars made by Singer in Callow Street, London. They built the first Aston prototype by fitting a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine to an Isotta-Fraschini designed by Ettore Bugatti.

The company, initially called Bamford Martin, was later renamed Aston Martin after the Aston Clinton Hill Climb race course, where Martin had successfully competed in the past. The story goes that Martin’s wife, Kate, suggested changing the first letter of the company name to ‘A’, which would ensure that it appeared at the top of the list of runners at racing events, thus indirectly promoting the new car.

The founding duo planned to manufacture their cars at Henniker Place in Kensington, where they acquired a premises to start production. Their objective was to develop “a quality car of good performance and appearance for the discerning driver, with fast touring in mind”. However, at the beginning of the First World War, they had to part ways, with Martin joining the Admiralty and Bamford the Royal Army Corporation.

After a few years, they re-founded the company in Kensington, and in 1919, built their first production car with a Coventry-Simplex engine. The car cost 850 pounds, and touched a maximum speed of 70 miles per hour.

The original founders’ association with Aston Martin wasn’t very long - Bamford retired in 1920, and Martin lost control of the company in 1926. The company had made some progress at international motor racing circuits under Martin, entering the French Grand Prix in 1923, and registering several wins at the Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit later that year. But something extremely unfortunate happened in 1924 - the company’s chief patron, Count Louis Zborowski, who had kept the cash flow going until then, died in a racing accident, leaving it bankrupt.

After Martin’s exit, the company was taken over by newly formed engineering firm, Renwick & Bertelli, and was moved to Feltham in Middlesex. Italian-born engineer Augustus ‘Bert’ Bertelli then set out to re-invent the Aston Martin, and took it to a new high over the next decade. Bertelli’s stylish, low-slung racing cars such as the 1930 International rebuilt Aston Martin were well-received, but he didn’t have the resources to solve the company’s financial problems. By 1936, the company had a new owner in the wealthy Sutherland family.

Over the course of its long history, Aston Martin has seen several changes in ownership, each adding something new to the company’s product range and character. It has, however, survived with an identity of its own and a reputation for superior quality and performance.

Company Milestones

1913: Bamford and Martin Limited established the Aston Martin office. The name of the office changed in 1926 to Aston Martin Motors Limited.

1915: The first Aston Martin car was registered.

1922: Aston Martin ran in the French Grand Prix.

1928: Aston Martin ran in the Le Mans 24 Hours race.

1947: David Brown purchased Aston Martin for 20,000 pounds. Aston Martin was further propelled into the world of racing. The DB series of cars were launched (DB stood for the founder’s name David Brown.)

1948: The Spa Special, an Aston Martin two-litre sports car won the Spa 24 Hours, a yearly endurance race in Belgium. The race is held at the Circuit de Spa under Francorchamps by the Royal Automobile Club Belgium.

1987: 75% of the shares were sold to Ford and a few years later 100% of the shares were sold to Ford.

2003: the Seven thousandth DB7, Aston Martin’s most popular car was built.

2006: This was a year where four major events happened for Aston Martin: the Rapide four door coupe concept was unveiled at the Detroit North American International Auto Show, the thirty thousandth Aston Martin was built, the DB5 and DBS showcased in the Casino Royale James Bond movie, and Aston Martin was voted as UK’s coolest brand.

2007: Aston Martin was sold to a consortium of David Richards, John Sinders and investment houses Dar and Adeems Investment.

2009: Aston Martin One-77 won the Concorso d'Eleganza Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes. The company also celebrated its fiftieth anniversary of its first win at Le Mans 24 Hours.

Vision & Values

Aston Martin aims to become the market leader in sports and luxury cars, with a combination of usability, new technology and great engineering capability. The nearly hundred-year old sports car manufacturer boasts an unequalled heritage, a reputation for creativity and craftsmanship, and an unmatched product line-up. Its award-winning range of cars, including the V8 Vantage, the DB9 and the flagship DBS, embodies the values of power, beauty and soul. The company’s other values include, but are not limited to: individuality, adherence to the highest manufacturing standards, hand finishing and bespoke craftsmanship, ensuring each and every Aston Martin is a unique expression of a long tradition.

Over the years, Aston Martin has stayed true to these values, creating some of the most iconic British sports cars of the post-war era, the most prominent of these being the David Brown (DB) series, created during David Brown's ownership of the company; the Lagonda and the Rapide. Each Aston Martin is modern, exclusive and beautiful, with an exceptional character that rewards the car enthusiast, both on the road and on the race track. Driving these cars is a unique, exhilarating experience that becomes possible only with the shared vision and values of the company’s excellent team of designers and engineers.

Ulrich Bez, the current CEO of the company, thinks that Aston Martin is the only “exclusive understated” sports car. In 2003, he envisioned the company floating its shares in the stock market, and stated that its aim was to have dealerships all over the world with equal sales in the UK, the European market, the US and the rest of the world.

Management Team

Dr. Ulrich Bez has been the CEO of Aston Martin since 2000. He has created a modern British brand of luxury cars that are known all over the world. He is responsible for the establishment and creation of the DBR9 and DBRS9 cars – a series of David Brown cars.

Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer of Aston Martin, he was responsible for the design and development of Porsche’s 911 Turbo, 968 and 963 models, all of which are cars. Dr. Bez was the Vice President of Engineering at Daewoo and the first director of BMW Technik GmbH before joining Porsche and before joining Aston Martin.

Aston Martin Lagonda Limited appointed Philipp Grosse Kleimann as the Director of Business Development in 2011. He will report to Dr. Ulrich Bez, Chief Executive Officer, Aston Martin, and will be part of the company’s Executive Management Board. He previously worked at Daimler.

Hanno Kirner has been Chief Financial Officer of Aston Martin since 2010. He joined Aston Martin from Rolls-Royce where he served as the Director of Finance and IT for five years and has extensive experience of the automotive industry. He’s also worked at BMW before at the in-house consulting division in 2000 for controlling finance projects. In 2002, he took over responsibility of the IT and corporate projects. He worked at Haarmann Hemmelrath Management Consultants in Hamburg specializing in controlling and finance issues in IPOs and Mergers and Acquisitions prior to joining BMW.

Jeffery Scott is the Managing Director of European Operations and Regional General Manager of Europe of Aston Martin since July 2010. He is responsible for sales, marketing and expanding the dealer network in Europe. He has also worked at Toyota, Lexus, Jaguar and Ford – the notable car companies of the world. .

Michael Van Der Sande is the Chief Commercial Officer and part of the company’s Executive Management Board since 2009. He last worked in Tesla Motors where he was the senior Vice President of Global Sales and he also worked at Harley Davidson in 1996 as the Vice President and Managing Director for European operations, Middle East Operations and African Operations overseeing three hundred and seventy dealerships in thirty-six countries. Other companies he has been with include Harley-Davidson, Nissan Europe, Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

Manufacturing Facilities

Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford founded Aston Martin in 1914.

In 2011, Aston Martin produced over 22,000 cars worldwide, which is a very small number compared to Toyota, GM and Ford’s production.

According to Aston Martin, the progression of production is as follows:

250 cars produced in 1973.

2,067 cars produced in 2004.

22,000 cars produced in 2011.

Out of these 22,000 cars produced up to the first few months of 2011, 7,000 cars were DB7s, which means 31.8% of the cars produced in 2011 were DB7s, showing the huge popularity of this car.

The DB7 is a sports car, one of the most popular cars of the company available either as a coupe or a convertible. It was manufactured for the first time between September 1994 and December 1994. The car was styled by Ian Callum and Keith Helfet. The DB7 was launched with a 6 cylinder engine and the DB7 Vantage was launched with a V12 engine.

Going back into the history of production for Aston Martin, the two most prominent cars it produced were: the Aston Martin Lagonda in 1985 and the Aston Martin Vantage in 1972-73. The Aston Martin Lagonda was a four-door saloon and 645 pieces of the car were produced in the first batch in 1985 while the Aston Martin Vantage was a two-door coupe and 71 pieces of the car were built. Apart from these cars, the other prestigious models of Aston Martin include the DB4, DB5 and DB6 which were released in the 60s. The DB5 is a two door car. The DB5 Volante was produced in 1964 and is an open, two-door car.

Aston Martin is planning to launch the Cygnet—an Electric Vehicle. The racing debut of the V12 Zagato will be at the Nürburgring on 28th May 2011 with a view to two cars racing at the 24 hour race on 25th June and Dr. Ulrich Bez will be driving it.

Aston Martin has been producing the V8 Vantage since 2005. From 2005, Aston Martin has showcased the expensive car, bolted in a roll bar and sports seats and then showcased the car on the world stage.

Another car Aston Martin created is the N24 and it continues to be a key player in sports car racing, having made its debut at the 2006 Nürburgring 24 hour race. The N24 soon spawned a special edition road car, the N400.

The company has announced its plans for unveiling a new ground up AMR-One car and has confirmed the driver lineup for the same.

Prodrive is responsible for Aston Martin Racing’s global operations and oversees all aspects of race car production and development.

Technology

The V12 is a type of cylinder that is V-shaped and contains 12 cylinders over the two V’s with 6 cylinders on each side of the V. Aston Martin has the V12 engine in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage and features a number of enhancements over the standard six-litre V12 found in the DB9. The DB9 is the ninth car in the series of David Brown cars; David Brown was one of the owners of Aston Martin. Another of the technologically advanced features is a by-pass engine air intake port that opens up at 5500 rpm. This improves airflow into the combustion chamber.

Along with the V12 Engine and the DB9, Aston Martin is considering bringing back the Straight Six engine. This will have a six-cylinder engine with a 2.5-liter swept capacity and direct injection and turbo charging technologies. Aston Martin believes that there will be no issues fitting the straight-six engine into the VH architecture since it already fits V-12 engines, which are essentially two banks of straight-six engines mounted to a common crankshaft.

Aston Martin Rapide, one of Aston Martin’s notable cars, has a six-litre V12 engine which produces 470 bhp. It is a luxurious car with good features.

Aston Martin One 77 has a 7.3 litre V12 engine and a dry lubrication system which produces 750 bhp and torque of 750 Nm. It also has a front-engine rear-drive layout which means that the engine of the car is located at the front of the car while the driver wheels are at the back of the car. It has a Carbon Ceramic Matrix brake technology that transfers less heat from the brake pads to the brake fluids and attention has been paid to the brake cooling so that less time is there to cool between acceleration.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage is the fourth car, which has eight cylinders that produce 380 bhp. The cars deliver a mileage of three to six kilometers per litre.

Aston Martin has also joined hands with Pico Technology to supply an oscilloscope diagnostics kit to each Aston Martin dealer all over the world. The oscilloscope is a kit that turns a PC into a high-performances diagnostic tool that can be used on all makes of the vehicle. The oscilloscope can show the map, the airflow sensors, starter motors, fuel pumps, complex multi-cylinder ignition, injection partners and even the bus physical signals. This is beneficial to customers as they get to view the car in all its transparency. Aston Martin produces these kits for manufacturers of cars and trucks.

Awards & Recognition

As a manufacturer of sports cars, Aston Martin has been associated with numerous awards and trophies over the last century. Aston Martin Racing is a team sponsored by the company which has distinguished itself in the last couple of years. Notable recent accomplishments of the company include:

Jan Charouz, Tomáš Enge and Stefan Mücke collected their 2009 Le Mans Series winning driver trophies. Team Principal George Howard-Chappell received the 2009 Le Mans Series winning teams’ award on behalf of Aston Martin Racing. The three drivers attended the Autosport Awards in London where the Aston Martin LMP1 car featured amongst the nominees for ‘Racing Car of the Year. The award is sponsored by Gulf Oil and is due to 007’s fourth overall and best petrol car finish in Le Mans 24-Hours and third in the Le Mans Series season finale at Silverstone.

The Aston Martin One-77 won the ‘Best Design’ Accolade in the 2009 Auto Express New Car Awards.

Aston Martin of Newport Beach won the After Sales Shop of the Year award, fulfilling all customer care aspects of the Aston Martin Mission Statement.
Prior to this, winners of the award included - The Collection in Miami, Florida, (2008) and Aston Martin of Dallas (2007). The award involves every aspect of customer service, including Sales, Service, Parts and After Sales Support. The After Sales purpose is to “Provide after Sales excellence and customer focused support ensuring that Aston Martin ownership is an exciting and satisfying experience, promoting brand retention and loyalty.”
The award is really special because to win this award the dealer has to perform well in Customer Car, Fixed Right First Time scores, Parts Department stocking level management, and be recommended by the regional management team. Aston Martin of Newport Beach excelled in each category. They provide world-class services along with their world-class luxury vehicles and have high standards of customer service.
Aston Martin Newport Beach is located on Newport Beach and its sale and service centers provide a very different, thought-provoking and luxurious experience. They have staff to meet all your needs.

Among the 51 cars that were showcased in the 2011 New York Autoshow, Aston Martin was clearly the crowd favorite. As a producer of sports cars, Aston Martin has made great headways into the field of car manufacturing. Its brand new cars the Aston Martin Rapide got the award – the “World Car Design of the Year Award.” This was a pleasant surprise as it has made a transition from the coupe-design to the four-door sedan.

International Operations

In the 1980s the Aston Martin Lagonda was sold to Persian Gulf states, particularly Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.

Aston Martin has manufacturing facilities in England, and Australia and the company manufactures about 8,000 cars per year.

The Aston Martin Rapide was produced at the Magna Steyr factor in Graz, Australia.

The One-77, one of the most exciting luxury cars of Aston Martin was showcased in Mumbai in 2011. This car has a price tag of Rs. 200 million.

Aston Martin has offices in Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, France, India, Denmark and other parts of the world. The company has created a new test center located adjacent to the Nurburgring circuit. The company tests Aston Martin cars at this place for sixteen weeks every year.

The company also created a building in Meuspath located opposite the Döttinger Höhe main straight to create Aston Martin’s first test facility. The 26,000sq ft. building has three main areas – a testing area as well as a vehicle workshop, a dedicated facility to tend the Aston Martin’s European press fleet with a total of six inspection ramps. The interior space has been designed to be such that it can hold race events, track experiences and even vehicle launches. There is a reception and a showroom that welcomes guests to explore Aston Martin’s products.

Aston Martin Racing has been created in partnership with Prodrive, one of the world's leading motor sport and automotive technology specialists and Prodrive will be responsible for Aston Martin Racing's global operations as well as play an important role in the plans to see a competitive Aston Martin program return to the world sports car series.

Croatia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Greece, Taiwan, Turkey and Chile were three new regions of the world where Aston Martin has entered along with the emerging markets including China and Middle East.

Aston Martin Racing built 12 work cars which ran in three work teams in the international GT series.

In 2010, the Chief Commercial Officer of the company, Michael van der Sande said, "We expect our 25 per cent sales will come from Asia and the Middle East in the next five years". Hence Aston Martin expects a large part of it’s revenues from international locations.

Exports

Aston Martin exports cars to Russia, India, China, Dubai, the United States and Canada in order to extend its products to various countries of the world, something done to increase it’s presence in various markets.

The cars that are exported to India come from Britain. These cars are available for very high prices due to import duty and the price of these cars is a staggering Rs. 17-20 crore.

The company that imports these cars in India is Infiniti Cars based out of Mumbai. Infinity Cars is the crème-de-la-crème of high-end luxury cars providing its customers with the BMWs, Aston Martins of the world as well as private and expensive yachts that looks like supermodels. Beneath all the products lies the test drive service. It allows you to drive the fast and furious cars with tiger-like prowess right from the showroom.

The Aston Martin cars that are available in India evoke a sense of luxury and exclusivity. The imported version of the One-77 is available for Rs. 20 crore.

Another car that is exported to India is the Rapide. It is a four-door, four-seater car with performance like a sportscar. The Rapide is an aesthetically sound car. The 6-litre V-12 engine produces 469 horsepower and runs at 6000 rpm sporting an aluminum body.

For all the excitement of these cars (Rapide and One-77) one has to appreciate that there are more cars in the lineup to be exported to India. You can even order the DB9, the Virage and the Vantage.

Future Plans

Aston Martin is planning to list its shares on the stock market so that it can fund its next generation of sports cars. Proceeds from the listing will be utilized to fund and develop the new Lagonda, a luxury Sports Utility Vehicle, amongst other uses.

Aston Martin plans to sell 4000 Cygnets at 30,000 pounds a piece. The new Lagonda is part of Aston’s long-term plan. The three-year plan that Aston Martin has come up with includes the following strategies:

The company will measure Carbon Dioxide Emissions of the car up to 2012.

There will be a face-lift for the DB-series.

The four-door saloon, the Rapide will launch too.

The first One-77s will hit the road with only 77 pieces of the car being produced.

The Lagonda will be available as of 2012.

The Cygnet will be available in an electric mode.

The Cygnet will also go on sale for 21,800 Euros and will only be available in Europe. The Vantage V12 will be manufactured for the US market. Additionally, the DB series (DB9 and DBS) will see some changes. The Rapide which has a 6 litre V12 engine will also be available for sale and so customers can put their names on the waiting list for the car. According to the company, the Lagonda car will only be sold in Russia and China.

The company is unveiling the e-Cygnet which is on the tail of the Toyota iQ, the Japanese car which was the foundation of the Aston Car. The first Aston Martin EV in the history of the world will also be launched a bit after the baby EV is launched by Toyota in 2012. Aston Martin will launch its version of the EV in 2013. According to the CEO Ulrich Bez who has been the CEO and Chairman of Aston Martin, the electronic hybrid of the car is not good as it will cause more damage to the environment. Not many of the Cygnets will come out in a rush.

The Cygnet car will be available for a very high sum wholesale and an even higher sum, if bought separately, making it more expensive than the Aston Martin coupes and roadsters.

As per the Lagonda, Aston Martin plans to launch two-three models of the Lagonda. These models will include features like a sporty cross-over, an Allroad-type crossover and a high speed luxury saloon. Aston Martin is a brand of various cars. It does not just include one car. There will be another car launched by Aston martin called the project Swan. This Lagonda will be sophisticated and luxurious giving competition to the Mercedes series of cars and Maybach. Plans of this are not revealed yet, though.

Our endeavor is to provide car buying consumers in India a one stop shop where they can do all their research about the latest cars in India. The Auto industry has been booming in recent times and we have moved to selling almost 2 million cars a year. The used car industry has been growing at an even faster pace.